Tetrachordon, n.p., 1645


Title Page	Tetrachordon,1645 This book is the oldest in the exhibit. The title page is interesting for its complexity, and includes a Greek quotation from the Medeaof Euripedes, lines 298-301: "Useless thou shalt be counted and not wise And, if thy fame outshine those hertofore Held wise, thou shalt be odious in men's eyes" (trans. Arthur S. Way, Loeb Classical Library, 1912-19. Milton's Greek text varies slightly from the Loeb). The Tetrachordonis so-called because it treats four passages from Scripture (Genesis, Deuteronomy, Matthew, and First Corinthians), synthesizing them into a defense of divorce. Bibliographic Description

End of Preface; first page of text. The relationship between the sexes, particularly marriage, was one of Milton's great preoccupations.

Sample text pages. Note how severely the recto has been cut down in rebinding. Pages would be cut down in order to remove worn edges and create a fresh edge, at the obvious expense of the margins. The massed, heavy type is typical of sixteenth and seventeenth century books.

English Department | Emory College | Emory University

Tetrachordon,1645